VSn recent years, political debates have accorded a central place to the term “sovereignty”. A multifaceted sovereignty: economic, military, digital, technological… But never environmental, when it should be first and foremost. Don’t States have a legitimate right to ensure that, in this critical area of the environment, the bad choices made by some are not imposed on others?
Europe is often said to be weak, especially in its trade relations. She has just given a counter-example – which has gone relatively unnoticed – in two strategic areas: batteries and photovoltaic solar panels.
By a historic decisionon the initiative of the European Commission, the European Parliament and Council have in fact just imposed on all global players in these two industrial sectors to measure and declare, from the 1er January 2024, according to an imposed method, the environmental footprint of their products. Otherwise, they will not cross the borders of the European Union (EU).
Minimum thresholds
Better, they will have to, from 1er July 2027, respect minimum thresholds. The goal ? Gradually exclude the most harmful products for the environment.
Why should this example challenge us? Because it reflects a leap forward from Europe for its environmental sovereignty in two industrial sectors, ultra-dominated moreover by Chinese industry, which are subject to environmental performance criteria, rigorously measured according to a method, the PEF (Product Environmental Footprint), fruit of ten years of exemplary scientific work now the subject of an official recommendation affirming it as the methodological framework of reference.
This is a fair barrier that the EU erects at its borders, distinguishing, and therefore protecting, the truly virtuous actors, in particular the European actors who have already adopted the PEF and initiated a real ecological transition. It must not stop on such a good path.
Its hand must not tremble before the lobbies of all stripes gravitating around the Commission to prevent, within the framework of two texts under review by the Parliament and the Council – the new regulation on ecodesign (Ecodesign for Sustainable Products/ESPR in English) and the management of environmental claims (“ Green claim initiative ”) – the extension of environmental requirements based on the PEF to all other industrial sectors. The Commission must not abandon its initial desire to impose a single methodological framework on all Member States.
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